TRAINING THE BLIND

Evening Star, Issue 22308, 7 April 1936, Page 9

TRAINING THE BLIND

SPLENDID WORK AT INSTITUTE DUNEDIN MAN'S EXPERIENCES Contentment and happiness are sought by all, but are not always easy to find by the person in possession of all his faculties. But how much more difficult, the ordinary person would argue, must it be for the blind. An interview yesterday, however, with Mr H. F. Titchener, formerly of Dunedin, who has lost his sight and who for two and a-half years has been receiving training at the New Zealand Institute for the Blind, Auckland, made one realise how the difficulties of such an affliction may be overcome. Mr Titchener, who was a well-known resident of this city for many years, spoke in very high praise of the work being carried out at the institute.

“ To feel blindness coming on is not a very pleasant sensation, and naturally one is in a state of flux,” said Mr Titchener as he proceeded to talk of the activities of the institute. “But Nature and one’s owk inclinations help to overcome the difficulty to some extent. It is with one’s own inclinations help to overcome mixed feelings that one enters the institute, but before very long one enters the new environment and into the process of learning how to be_ blind.” “ There are many activities into which one may enter at the institute. There are workshops where baskets, mats, and such articles are manufactured, and there is the academic side of study. It was the latter course that I undertook. I was introduced to the tutor who was to guide my destinies through the process of Braille reading, writing, and typewriting. It was inspiring from the start, the tutor to whom I was attached being a B.A. and an LL.B. of the New Zealand University. He had gained both degrees whilst blind. One is apt for a start to take Braille too seriously, an attitude which has been a stumbling block to many, for ‘ little and often ’ is the corect procedure. The influences surrounding the institute are such as to give one complete confidence in any attainment. The staff, from the director (Sir Olutha .Mackenzie) down, are most attentive and painstaking, and they make the welfare of every inmate a personal matter on their part. . . ' The institute has many visitors, whose feelings of sadness are soon dissipated by the light-hcarteducss of the inmates. The surroundings are most congenial, and in the mornings the sound of music is heard from various parts of the institute. In fact, at the gates the visitor is welcomed bythe sweet singing of the canaries which the girls have hung outside their windows. There is really no institutional life in _ the ordinary sense of the word. Visitors are welcomed at all hours, and find great interest in the various activities of the place. ... ~ ~, “At the same time, continued Mr Titchener, “the settling-down, process requires considerable concentration both on the part of those studying and those in the workshops. There is, however, always a helping hand, and, speaking from a very wide experience in tne every-day world, I doubt if there is any section of the community more appreciative of what is done for them than the blind. It is perhaps felt in some quarters that the institute is mere y an Auckland institute. That is certainly not the case, for its activities are used to help the blind all over the Dominion The public of Auckland, however, are extremely helpful, and it is not long before an inmate finds that, provided he has developed the necessary sense of direction, he lias the help of tramwaymen, police, and members of the public generally. Another misconception s that the institute is a woalthy mstitution. It is a very expensive place to run, but on both the workshops and on the educational side the money receii ed is spent wisely and well. “At present there is a moyemen afoot for the extension of the library, a movement which is being fP™>ored bv the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen’s Association. Much is also done for the institute J>y, Rotary Clubs, and members of these and of the Commercial Travellers Association will keep in touch with a blind person travelling through the country if requested. Their work is greatly appreciate 1. . . . ~ “ There is a new era in view for the blind,” said Mr Titchener. This is in the form of a talking book, which it is expected will shortly be available. Very large records are played on a specially-constructed gramophone The cost of the machine is said not to be very great, but the records will be fairly costly. The records will be circulated in the same manner as books from a library. “ There is also another process which is reported to have been perfected which will enable the blir 1 to read ordinary print in a book by the medium of a new electrical discovery. Inis in time will no doubt find its way to the Dominion. Wireless, the talking book and Braille reading and typing are, of course, very essential; but they may also be very detrimental if the blind person had been very active before ho or she lost sight and sits about too much instead of taking some exercise. With the combination of the facilities mentioned the blind person will be much more interested than has been the case in the past. People must not think, however, that it has been dull for the blind, for while being trained at the institute one finds the 24 hours of the day all too short. “ The psychological effect of blindness is such that sympathy or a reference to the affliction is not very acceptable,” said Mr Titchener, ‘ as the training makes one so independent that all that is actually needed is a helping hand in getting about, in crossing roads, etc. One feels in Auckland that, when in possession of a white walking stick, one is just as safe as the pedestrian with his sight.” -